The Book of Broken Promises:

$400 Billion Broadband Scandal & Free the Net

With the FCC’s new Open Internet/Net Neutrality decision and the onslaught of court cases that will continue for years, The Book of Broken Promises emerges to expose the sad truth about communications services in America and to answer a fundamental question — How did we get into this mess and what can we do to fix it today?

The third book in a trilogy spanning 18 years, Bruce Kushnick, author, senior telecom analyst and industry insider, lays out, in all of the gory details, how America paid over $400 billion to be the first fully fiber optic-based nation yet ended up 27th in the world for high-speed Internet (40th in upload speeds). But, this is only one part of the story.

With over four million people filing with the FCC to ‘Free the Net’, one thing is abundantly clear — customers know something is terribly wrong. Every time you pay your bills you notice that the price of your services keeps going up, you don’t have a serious choice for Internet (ISP), broadband or cable service, much less competitors fighting for your business, or maybe you can’t even get very fast broadband service. Worse, over the last few years, America’s ISPs and cable companies have been rated “the most hated companies in America”.

While Net Neutrality concerns (detailed in Broken Promises) are important, the actions are only a first step and will most likely be tied up in court for the next few years. More importantly, it does not resolve most of the customer issues and there is nothing else on the horizon that will fix what’s broken.

Broken Promises documents the massive overcharging and failure to properly upgrade the networks, the deceptive billing practices, the harms caused from a lack of competition, the gaming and manipulating of the regulatory system, from the states to the FCC, and exposes the companies’ primary strategy — How much can we get away with?There has been little, if any, regard for the customers they serve.

But Don’t Take Our Word for Any of It. The Book of Broken Promises:

Supplies new, never seen before data, including telco financials, and analysis that offers an alternative path to solve Net Neutrality and restructure communications.

Broadband Scandal — Documents, in detail, the broken promises and failure to upgrade the networks even though customers paid over $400 billion in excess fees and phone charges for network upgrades since the 1990’s.

Your State? — Supplies details of how AT&T, Verizon and Centurylink went state-to-state to change the laws to charge customers for a fiber optic future that never showed up.

School Wiring Overcharging — Though it varies by state, we were all charged about 9 times by the phone & cable companies to wire America’s schools & libraries.

Social Contract? Time Warner Cable & Comcast’s so-called “Social Contract” deal with the FCC was a plan to raise your cable rates.

Mergers Harmed America — Broken Promises tells the complete history of the mergers and broken promises that created AT&T, Verizon and Centurylink – and why we need to stop the current proposed mergers.

The AT&T-Verizon “IP Transition” Con — Disguised as a technology improvement, the plan is designed to remove all regulations and oversight, not “free the net”.

Delivers Encyclopedic Coverage, with hundreds of links to reports and articles and covers everything, from the ‘made up’ charges on your bills, or the taxes applied, like the Universal Service Fund, (USF), to the municipalities rolling out broadband or what ever happened to the National Broadband Plan.

Buzzwords Explained — Don’t worry; all of this jargon will be in plain English.

Scandals Galore — Verizon claims Net Neutrality is bad because “Title II” harms investment, yet Verizon’s entire fiber networks are all based on “Title II”. AT&T’s U-Verse is a ‘copper-to-the-home’ service with fiber somewhere within ½ mile. Read about merger conditions written on toilet paper, the massive cross-subsidies charged to customers to fund other businesses going unchecked, or that whole state legislatures have been captured by the phone & cable company ‘trust’. You will be shocked at what you don’t know or were never told, and how much it has cost you, your family, your business, your city and America’s economy.

Solution: Take Action: It is time America takes a new path that includes audits, investigations and more importantly opens the networks to direct competition and finally separates the companies that took control of essential infrastructure, from the wires. Broken Promises provides the documentation and a proactive plan, a roadmap on how states and cities can take advantage and leverage the companies’ failed broadband commitments and the companies’ questionable financial and business practices. The goal — Move America to an open, very fast, fiber optic-based, yet affordable, broadband, Internet, and cable service for everyone — since everyone paid for it over and over and over.

This is my October 2014 Time Warner “Triple Play” bill. When I signed up, less than two years ago, it was advertised at $89.99 and today, less than two years later, the actual price is 110% more — now $190.77.Click for Full Size.

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) issued a show cause Order to Verizon, New Jersey, claiming that it for its failed to provide 100% of the state with 45 Mbps bi-directional services by 2010. Almost 20 years ago, Verizon closed a deal with the State known as Opportunity New Jersey” (ONJ). which raised rates and gave Verizon tax breaks. These excess phone charges (and tax write offs) were to be used to do the upgrades, replacing the old copper wiring with fiber optic services.

The show cause action was started based on complaints by two small towns, Greenwich and Stow Creek of Cumberland County, who are not being served and who also have continuous service quality issues.

Verizon responded (Response 1, Response 2)claiming that it has completed every obligation and that there are 45 Mbps capabilities in every central office in New Jersey. Verizon also claims it has suffered because of changes in the market and they have lost 50% of access lines. and had major financial losses since 2007.

Truth is:

Verizon has overcharged customers over $13 billion dollars from 1993-2009 — thousands of dollars per customer.

Verizon has caused about $225 billion dollars in potential economic growth, as well as economic harms by pulling a ‘bait and switch’ rolling out DSL instead of upgrading the utility to fiber.

Verizon’s FiOS is only in ‘60%’ of 70 municipalities, out of 524 and 155 Munis will never get wired.

We believe Verizon has been manipulating the books to show these losses and the companies’ affiliates, such as Verizon Wireless are dumping their expenses into the local utility, not paying their fair share and are getting other advantages at the expense of New Jersey’s customers and municipalities.

Worse, it is clear that there are ‘behind the scenes’ manipulations of the public going on — Verizon’s end result — Shut down any wireline obligations, push customers onto expensive wireless products and services, (which don’t have the same customer obligations) and cut deals with the cable companies, thus not competing.Verizon recently cut 336 NJ wireline employees who do repairs, has stopped expanding FiOS and has announced it is abandoning DSL.

This is not a New Jersey problem alone. It is a Verizon and AT&T problem as this is happening throughout America in almost every state.

SENDING COMMENTS: Send Comments to board.secretary@bpu.state.nj.us. These written comments must be received by May 16, 2012. Comments should be identified with the heading I/M/O the Board’s Order to Show Cause Verizon Opportunity NJ Committments Docket No. TO12020155

READ THIS AND SAY: I Agree with New Networks Institute’s Comments — and anything else you want to add.

And please file comments at the FCC or sign onto our petition at change.org

Story:

The United States Telephone Association (USTA), the phone companies’ trade association, has petitioned the FCC (WC Docket No. 12-61) to essentially remove all requirements to supply information about AT&T, Verizon and the other phone companies’ business activities. This is known as “forbearance,” where the FCC has the authority to enforce the law but chooses not to do so.

This is the latest effort in an ongoing campaign to allow AT&T and Verizon to hide what they are doing by no longer disclosing basic financial information between and among the companies’ subsidiaries.

This means that your right to know what the companies are doing will be limited. You won’t know what the telcos are doing behind your back. Worse, this stops advocates or the government from knowing what these companies are doing. And if you haven’t read our latest report, showing massive manipulation of revenues and expenses to save billions on taxes, while not building out high-speed broadband/cable to ½ of the US and to raise your rates — because they can — we won’t be able to continue to out their wrong-doing without more data.

·First, we requested the FCC stop the USTA Petition.

·Second, we requested the FCC restore all previous requirements that have already been removed.